Car roof



Oct. 6, 1936. E. G. FRANCK CAR ROOF 2 Sheets-Shes?l 1 Filed March 26, 193i i@umnvn JW/HWI- |1.- O o U O 3 r O n O A n O s o n M ,C u OH w. www... l. I l .s O d ATTORNEYS CAR ROOF1 Filed March 26, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheat 2 INVENTOR wwC/ ATTORNEY/S Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAR. ROOF Application March 26, 1934, Serial No. 717,505

2 Claims.

The invention relates to roofs for railway box cars and of the rigid type in which all of the roofing sheets are in fixed relation to each other. It is the primary object of the invention to obtain a construction which is relatively light in weight but which is nevertheless of sufcient strength and thoroughly weatherproof. invention consists in the construction as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of my improved car roof;

Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section showing the construction of carline and attachment of the same to the roofing sheets;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a portion of a roof.

In car roofs of the rigid type it is usual to attach the adjacent sheets by riveting to each other or to an intermediate carline and to thereby form a weatherproof joint. However, due to severe stresses incident to the running of cars, the seams between sheets may open suiciently to destroy the weatherproof quality. This is particularly truewith constructions which are made from relatively light gauge metal. I have therefore devised a construction which may be built from light gauge metal and which is not dependent for its weatherproof quality upon seams that are tight at all points, the construction being as follows:

A are carlines formed of upwardly opening channel bars provided with laterally extending flanges A at their opposite ends. B are roofing sheets extending between adjacent carlines and overlapping the same. C are inverted channel members having the laterally extending flanges C' which overlap the flanges A of the carlines A, the sheets B extending between said flanges and being secured thereto by rivets D. To avoid any danger of leakage into the car the carlines A are sloped from the ridge to the eaves and at their eaves end are open to discharge any water which may have passed the same. The upper channel members C also extend to the eaves and have downturned portions E which cover the ends of the carlines, leaving an opening only at the bottom. As a further weatherproong precaution, the sheets B after passing between the anges A and C', are bent to form upstanding flanges B', so that when water passing through the same is retained by the flanges B and is conducted, due to the slope of the roof, to the ends of the carlines, being discharged through the opening at the eaves.

The member C will form a saddle for the To this end the (Cl. 10S-5.4)

mounting of running boards F which are secured thereon by brackets G riveted thereto. Bolts I-I serve to connect the running boards to these brackets. These members C also constitute a portion of the carline and greatly increase its rigidity due to the vertical depth of the beam. As a consequence relatively light gauge metal may be used for forming the members A and C and will impart all the requisite strength to the carline. As a further strengthening feature, the sheets B which extend intermediate adjacent carlines are formed with a central portion B2 in a lower plane than the opposite side portion B3, being connected thereby to an oblique portion B4. Thus the portions in the two spaced planes will have a trussing effect which increases the load carrying strength of the roof. The edge portions B5 of said sheets which extend between the ilanges C and A are preferably arranged in a still higher plane so as to avoid covering the joint with water which flows from ridge to eaves.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A car proof comprising roofing sheets extending from eaves to eaves, a carline of upwardly opening channel cross section provided with outwardly extending lateral flanges in the same plane, a complementary carline member of downwardly opening channel section having laterally extending flanges, the flanges of the said carline members being arranged respectively below and above the roofing sheets and being secured thereto by riveting, said lower carline members being pitched from ridge to eaves and the channel being open at the eaves end, said upper carline member being turned down at the eaves to protect said opening, and upstanding flanges on the edges of the roofing sheets within the channel of said carline members and spaced from each other.

2. A car roof comprising rooiing sheets extending from eaves to eaves, a carline of upwardly opening channel cross section provided with outwardly extending lateral iianges in the same plane, a complementary carline member of downwardly opening channel section having laterally extending flanges, the anges of the said carline members being arranged respectively below and above the roofing sheets and being secured thereto by riveting, said lower carline members being pitched from ridge to eaves and the channel being open at the eaves end, said upper carr line member being turned down at the eaves to protect said opening, said rooiing sheets intermediate said carlines having portions arranged in vertically space-d planes to form a truss for increasing the rigidity thereof.

EDWIN G. FRANCK. 

